1973-D Repunched Mintmark RPM-001

Description

Attributed by VarietyVista, RPM-001 for the 1973-D Lincoln Memorial cent documents a repunched mintmark variety from the Denver Mint's production. The variety is cataloged as UVC-982 with die marriage reference DMR-002 in the VarietyVista system. Three die stages have been documented, tracking the evolution of this die through its production life: Stage A represents the early die state (EDS) when the die was fresh and the repunched mintmark detail was at its sharpest; Stage B represents mid die state (MDS) with moderate wear and potential loss of the secondary punch detail; and Stage C represents the late die state (LDS) when progressive die deterioration may have substantially reduced the visibility of the repunching. The 1973 Denver Mint continued the tradition of hand-punching mintmarks onto individual working dies — a process where a technician placed a letter punch bearing the "D" over the appropriate location on each die and struck it with a hammer to impress the mintmark into the die surface. When the punch was struck more than once, or repositioned between blows, the result was a repunched mintmark showing evidence of multiple impressions. RPM-001 as the first documented variety in the 1973-D sequence represents a die where this repunching produced sufficiently visible evidence to warrant formal attribution. The die state progression from EDS through MDS to LDS allows collectors to place their specimens along the die's timeline, with early die state coins preserving the clearest view of the secondary punch traces and late die state coins showing the effects of hundreds of thousands of additional strikes' worth of die wear accumulated after the initial documentation state.

Die Markers

• UVC-982
• DMR-002
• Stage A:
• EDS (unconfirmed)
• Stage B:
• Obverse and Reverse are MDS
• Stage C:
• LDS (unconfirmed)

External References